That's Christmas to Me
by ThatisneverThat
Summary: Christmas based one shots set within my multi-chapter AU story Earthly Wonders. Hopefully also readable without reading EW. Varying in length, style, size, genre... everything really. Although I aim for happiness.
1. Chapter 1

_**So there are a lot of Christmases that I haven't written in my multi-chapter AU Earthly Wonders. 10 of them to be precise. My aim is to write as many of them as possible before Christmas! But I am mega busy so it won't be all 10! I hope you can read these as one shots without reading EW too…**_

 _ **1 – The Necklace. This is set just after Clara and Danny's wedding/honeymoon. Ellie, their first born, is just over 1.**_

The house was oddly silent when Clara woke. She looked around and quickly noted the lack of husband in her bed and that it was just gone 8am; it was also Christmas day. She took a moment to smile up at the ceiling as she thought back over the honeymoon they'd not long returned from, and the Christmas they were to have with Ellie now they were back. Everything was running perfectly, she hadn't been happier in years and it was all down to her perfect family. However right now, they were oddly missing.

Clara swung her legs out of bed and stood up, pulling her hair up in to a quick ponytail for a moment until she could sort it. She grabbed her robe and pulled it round, heading downstairs. When she made it in to the kitchen there was a note on the side.

 _Patience my dear. Make yourself tea, get comfy, we won't be long. Oh, and Merry Christmas, I love you._

Clara stared at it in confusion but eventually shrugged and flicked the kettle on. Her mug was already waiting with the teabag inside and she quickly made the tea, sitting down and grabbing the remote. She had to admit it was a slightly odd start to Christmas, but she was somewhat enjoying it. Once she'd finished her tea, she made her way upstairs and got herself sorted and dressed. When she appeared back downstairs the front door was just opening and Ellie toddled in slightly unsteady but very enthusiastically, running at Clara with her arms spread for balance.

"Mamaaa!" She giggled as Clara picked her up and spun her around.

"Hello my little angel, where have you been then eh?" Clara looked to Danny for an answer, smiling at him.

"Long wayyyy" Ellie informed her and Danny just laughed. "Long long wayyyy." She repeated. "CHRISTMAS MAMA!" Ellie suddenly decided to shout down her ear. Clara chuckled and looked over to Danny.

"What on earth have you been doing to her?" She asked, going through to the lounge with them and letting Ellie down where she toddled over to the tree, still just as fascinated by the lights as ever.

"Nothing much, just had to go and collect something from your Dad." Danny smiled and sat down on the sofa, putting the bag he'd bought in down beside him.

"Like what exactly?" Clara asked, intrigued, and joining him on the sofa but watching Ellie at the same time.

"I don't really know, all I know is he wants you to have it before he comes over." Danny pulled the small box out and handed it over to Clara. "I'll go stop Ellie from destroying the tree." He smiled, standing up and leaving her to it.

Clara didn't open it straight away. She stared at the wrapped box for a moment trying to work out why her Dad would want her to have something before he arrived, it didn't make any sense. Eventually she started to open the paper carefully, making sure not to rip any. She could hear Danny behind her trying to control Ellie who was clearly enjoying the tree lights a little too much, but she didn't turn around. The paper came open easily enough in the end, and in front of her sat a black box with a gold edge. It looked new, but for some reason Clara had a feeling the contents was nothing but. She opened the box and a letter popped out, falling on her lap. She replaced the box lid for a moment and picked it up, reading.

 _Clara,_

 _After giving you the bracelet at your wedding I knew the time had come to give you this too. Not long before your mother died we went shopping - she found this, and she wanted you to have it. She said I was to give it to you at Christmas, but I forgot, and then as time went on for some reason I just couldn't. I guess I became attached, I couldn't bear to let it go, but I was wrong to._

 _I want to apologise for waiting so long, and I want to apologise for being too cowardly to give this to you in person and in front of Linda._

 _Love you,_

 _Dad_

The letter sat in front of her for a few moments while she read it again. Was she meant to be angry? Maybe, but she wasn't. She couldn't be angry at him, he'd lost a wife as much as she lost a mother, she'd done stupid things back then and so had he, there was no point blaming anyone. Except maybe Linda, because she got the blame for almost anything Clara could pin on her now.

Once she'd thought long and hard about this, Clara opened the box. Inside lay a beautiful locket necklace – heart shaped with a diamond placed in the very middle and a swirl pattern. She picked it up carefully, looking closer and smiling at its beauty. But it was when she opened it over that she felt the tears start to fall. ' _I will always be here. I will always find you.'_ She read the inscription over and over, the writing was small – to fit it all in – but it meant so much.

"Mummy cwy!" Clara looked up suddenly to see Ellie stood in front of her pointing at her. She quickly wiped her eyes and smiled at her, picking her up to sit beside her. She was so very smart for her age, sometimes too much so.

"It's okay sweetie, Mummy's okay. Look at this; your grandma got it for me." She moved the box slightly over so Ellie could see. She looked for a moment but then looked back up to Clara.

"Play?" She asked and Clara could only smile, kissing her forehead. She quickly removed the necklace from it's box and clipped it around her neck, holding it just for a moment longer than needed and then stood up with Ellie.

"Why don't we go and see if Daddy needs help in the kitchen shall we? I believe we foolishly agreed to host Christmas lunch again." Clara straightened Ellie's jumper which boasted 3 reindeer, one with a pom pom red nose, and took her through to the kitchen.

The family arrived a couple of hours later. Clara had spent most of the morning entertaining Ellie as Danny was insistent he was fine in the kitchen, and it didn't really seem fair to leave Ellie alone to play either. Dave came in first, shortly followed by Linda and then her Gran who Clara quickly noted was clearly already a little fed up with Linda's groaning. Ellie was quickly distracted by their entrance and started to get up to go and see Dave, until she spotted Linda. Quickly she backtracked and hugged in to Clara, grizzling slightly. Clara smiled weakly at her Dad and picked Ellie up, kissing her head and gently stroking her hair back.

"Hey, settle down it's alright sweetie. It's a happy time okay?" Clara whispered to her, but it wasn't helping. Danny had appeared from the kitchen now, greeting everyone and taking the coats.

"Well it's lovely to see you too." Linda said sarcastically to Clara who just glared at her briefly before turning her focus back to Ellie, ignoring Linda's scoff as she did.

"I'm just going to take her upstairs for a moment, we won't be long." Clara looked to Danny who nodded, understanding what she was going to do. As she left the room she gave an apologetic look to her Gran who just smiled in sympathy for the moment. She took Ellie upstairs to her room, taking a seat on the beanbag in the corner which had become her place to calm down recently as they were trying new things with her. Clara wiped the tears from Ellie's face and sat her up on her lap to talk to her.

"It's all going to be okay El, I promise." She smiled, reaching over and grabbing her teddy from the bed and handing him to her. "We need to be nice today for Grandad." Clara told her. Ellie took the teddy by the arm and put the hand up to her mouth. "I know you're scared baby, but it's okay." Sometimes Clara didn't know just how much Ellie could understand, but it seemed to be working. She went quiet for a while to listen and make sure Ellie's breathing settled.

A few moments later there was a quiet knock on the door and Clara looked up to see her Dad stood there. Ellie jumped around but seemed okay once she saw it was Dave, though she still settled back in to Clara.

"Sorry darling, everything okay?" He asked, taking a few steps inside the room. Clara nodded and he eventually made his way over to sit on the floor beside her. "It looks beautiful on you." Clara knew exactly what he meant, not taking her eyes off Ellie as she replied.

"It's perfect, but you know you could have just given it to me right?" She asked. He didn't reply, they both knew the answer. "I forgive you Dad." She told him, finally looking over. "Thank you." They both smiled, and Clara zoned back in to Ellie to see she'd finally settled. "Right kiddo, let's go see how Daddy's doing with lunch shall we eh?"

Once they were back downstairs Clara let Ellie go to see her Gran and stopped her Dad in the hall. "You've been amazing this year Dad, everything you've done… please don't think you're not doing enough. I love you, and we're going to have a wonderful Christmas." She hugged him tightly. Dave was shocked at first, but soon returned the hug.

"I'm so proud of you, and I know your Mum would be too." He let go and stood back, keeping hold of her shoulders and smiling at her. "Merry Christmas darling, you deserve it."


	2. Christmas Past

**I'm not getting to write as many of these as I hoped, sorry guys. I'll try and get another 1 or 2 written before new year but I'm not promising anything as I'm writing. Credit to Bobbie for this idea.**

 _Putting the decorations up never seemed like a chore, not when you have a wonderful family to do them with. Danny had lifted Ellie up to put the star on the top, helping her as Clara watched on, smiling. She sat down, leaning back. She was tired; she would just rest her eyes…  
Ellie woke her, climbing on to her lap and jumping around, asking if she'd been dreaming. Clara smiled and sat Ellie down.  
"Not exactly, just remembering." Ellie looked confused. "Let me tell you a story about my favourite Christmas…"_

"Clara come on sweetheart, book down just for a couple of hours?" Ellie poked her head around the bedroom door. "Dad's got the tree ready." She smiled as she found Clara lying on her bed with her latest read, or re-read, that was Pride and Prejudice. "How many times have you read that book eh?" Ellie asked, sitting on the edge of her bed and pushing it down so Clara would look at her. She chuckled as Clara looked up at her, surprised almost to see her there.

"Alright Mum?" Clara sat herself up, putting her book to one side. "Sorry it was a good bit, what did you say? I have been doing work honest; I was just taking a break." Ellie raised her eyebrows but smiled.

"I don't doubt it sweetheart; we're going to decorate the tree now though if you want to come down?" Clara nodded, standing up with her Mum and following her down to find Dave fighting with a bag of tinsel. Immediately Ellie and Clara started laughing at him as he span around to look at them, covered in various colours and sparkling in the lights of the lounge. Eventually Clara went over to help him out.

"Dad what on earth have you done with this, it's a mess." Clara removed it from him and straightened it out on the floor. When she stood back up her parents were both stood grinning at her. "What? It's not tangled anymore." They both nodded, chuckling a little. "Are we decorating this tree or not?"

They all laughed their way through it. Ellie put the Christmas music on and the three of them worked their way through. Dave was strategically told where everything needed to go on the tree as Ellie and Clara worked it all out between them. Once they'd finished they all stood back and admired their handiwork. Dave and Ellie both put an arm around Clara who hugged them both, sighing softly in happiness.

"I think that's our best yet." Clara told them.

"We do the same thing every year!" Dave replied and immediately faced Ellie and Clara glaring at him. "I mean…" Ellie grabbed a cushion from the sofa and threw it at him over Clara's head who quickly looked round in shock before looking back to her Dad and laughing. Dave quickly threw it back causing Clara to duck out the way. She could only watch on as her parents started throwing various cushions at each other and laughing. They both moved backwards until they each found a chair and fell down on it.

"It's a miracle I made it through childhood in one piece, honestly." Clara rolled her eyes and went over to her Mum who had landed on the sofa and sat beside her, curling her legs up to lean against her. "Thanks." She said, smiling and looking at the tree.

"What for?" Ellie asked, putting an arm around her. "It's the same thing we do every year." Clara shrugged, hugging her tight.

"I know, it's just Christmas… it's special. I can't wait for Christmas day now." She told her. Ellie kissed her head.

"Me neither sweetheart."

* * *

It rolled around quicker than they expected, but Christmas day arrived and Clara woke up at 7am on the dot. She sat up, looking over and smiling at the stocking that lay at the end of the bed, twisting over on to her stomach to look in it. Just as she went to reach in, her bedroom door opened and her Mum's head appeared.

"Eh! No peeping missy, we do this together remember." Clara sighed and put her head down on the mattress in defeat at being caught, but she couldn't help but smile, eventually looking back up to her Mum. "Merry Christmas beautiful girl." Ellie walked over and sat on the edge of her bed, moving the hair that had popped in to Clara's face out the way. She smiled up at her mother.

"Merry Christmas Mum. Is Dad up? Can we go in?" She asked, pushing herself up on to her knees and leaning over to grab her dressing gown. Ellie laughed, rolling her eyes at Clara.

"Last time I checked missy you were 18 not 8. Patience!" She pushed her back to lie down on the bed but Clara didn't stay, flipping herself back up and hugging Ellie, putting a big grin on for her. "Clara Oswald we are letting your father sleep a little longer. Come on, we can go and get tea?" Clara shook her head, still clinging on to her. Ellie raised her eyebrows, chuckling at her daughter's attempts to win her over, but she wasn't giving in.

Clara sighed, pulling back and climbing off her bed and grabbing her book from her desk, but Ellie leaned over and picked it back out of her hand.  
"Oh no you don't, not today." Ellie closed it and put it on the side. "Let's go make tea, I'm sure by the time we're sorted your Dad will be awake little miss impatient." Clara eventually gave in, going downstairs with her.

About half an hour later Dave appeared in the kitchen with all 3 of their stockings and a santa hat on.  
"Ho ho ho!" He announced as he came through the door. "Merry Christmas to my favourite girls." He quickly kissed Clara on the head and then kissed Ellie properly to which Clara turned her head away briefly.

"Dad really what do you look like?" Clara laughed and looked back when she knew it was safe. "Honestly you're an embarrassment." Dave pretended to look annoyed, but couldn't keep it up. Eventually Clara jumped up and hugged him. "Alright can we do presents now because I've been waiting ages?!" Ellie rolled her eyes but Dave nodded at her. "Yes! Come on Mum you know you're excited too!" She grabbed their hands and pulled them through to the lounge so they could sit on the sofa by the tree.

Dave handed her the stocking, joining her with his and Ellie with hers. They all started opening things in turn, laughing at the stupid gifts and appreciating the little thoughtful ones. Clara smiled at her parents, seeing the joy in their faces and just enjoying the time with them without worrying about anything. By the time they'd finished there was paper everywhere but Clara just lay back against her Dad, smiling as she looked out the window. She was happy, it was beautiful.

"I need to phone David soon." Clara said fairly quietly, almost thinking out loud as Ellie stood up to go to the loo.

"Oh Clara…" Dave started and she immediately gave him a look. "Look, he's a nice kid but you're only 18 Clara, you need to be thinking about…" Clara stood up to go and see her Mum. "Clara!"

"It's Christmas Day Dad, can we just have this one day without having this conversation, please? I'm gonna go get ready, Gran will be here soon." She told him, not getting angry, just not wanting to have this conversation.

When the doorbell rang Clara sprinted back downstairs to open it, beating both her parents to the door and flinging it open, smiling as she saw her Gran stood there waiting with a bag full of presents. Clara took the bag, and let her in before hugging her tight.

"Well hello there darling, how're you doing?" She asked, kissing her cheek. Clara let go, taking the bag through to the living room.

"I'm good, you?" She asked, gesturing for her Gran to sit down.

"All the better for seeing you sweetie, I've missed you." Clara nodded and joined her on the sofa.

"Mum and Dad are doing… stuff." Clara explained, smiling and shrugging and vaguely pointing at the kitchen.

"That's alright, we can catch up. How're things with David?" She asked. Clara pulled her leg up to sit cross legged and turned to face her – her Gran was much more accepting of her boyfriend than either of her parents. "He get you anything nice for Christmas?" Clara pulled the necklace out from under her dress, showing it to her.

"Well that's beautiful! Why're you hiding it?" She asked, studying it a little closer for a moment.

"Dad will just say he's spending too much on me, then he'll probably ask what I bought him and I don't want to have to lie, so I'm just avoiding the conversation." Clara shrugged, tucking the necklace back down. "It's fine, all is fine, let's not talk about this today." Her timing was pretty good as Ellie came in the room, greeting her mother-in-law and going over to put the Christmas CD on. Clara jumped up and went over to put her Gran's presents under the tree, smiling as she read the labels on each one.

Everyone settled in for the day, with cooking going on between Ellie and Dave and Clara keeping the drinks topped up they were all playing their part. Christmas dinner was as good as ever, with Clara eating far more than she should have, but she really didn't care all that much. Her Gran told the usual stories about the days when Dave used to try and steal extra stuffing from his father's plate – not that that had really changed, Clara pointed out as her Dad tried to grab an extra bit from her and she slapped him away. They all laughed and Dave went in to a mock-sulk making Clara and Ellie roll their eyes at him as they giggled. Clara only laughed harder when she saw her Gran's face looking at them all. Clara leant over and hugged her, letting her laughter subside and staying rested against her.

"I'm so full… so much food." She moaned, still grinning despite her complaining stomach. "Is it time for presents yet?"

Her parents groaned simultaneously, but still stood up to clear the table. Clara grinned at her success and stood up to help them to get it done as soon as possible, spinning around the room to clear everything up. As soon as everything was clean, Clara ran through to the living room – it was finally time. She made sure to place herself right by the tree, ready to hand out everyone's presents.

They took it in turns, everyone opening presents with smiles on their faces and hugging each other as they received them. Clara jumped on her parents when she opened hers to reveal a mobile, her first, and something she'd been begging them for months about. Ellie laughed as she kissed them both on the cheek and thanked them over and over. Once the present opening was finally over, Clara lay herself down on the sofa, resting her head on her Mum's lap and relaxing as the TV was turned on. She smiled over at her Gran who was sat in the chair nearby.

"You okay Gran?" She asked, letting her Dad, who had just returned from the kitchen, sit down underneath her legs.

"Absolutely wonderful thank you sweetheart, it's been a lovely Christmas." Clara nodded, smiling as Ellie started to play with her hair.

"It's been great." She sighed contently, settling down to watch whatever film came on next. They were all happy; it had been a perfect day - simple, but perfect.

* * *

It was late now, her Gran had just gone and Clara was settled on her bed starting on one of the new books she'd been given by her. Ellie came in around 20 minutes later, sitting beside her on the bed.

"Alright sweetheart?" She asked, looking down at the book. "Looks interesting." Clara rolled her eyes.

"You don't have to say that just because you want me to talk to you." Clara rested the book open on her stomach. "Believe it or not I like doing that anyway." They both laughed.

"Alright cheeky, I get the picture. It's lovely to see you so happy." Ellie put an arm around her. "I know being a teenager is far from easy, but you're doing a pretty good job of it." Clara smiled, leaning in to her a little.

"I couldn't do it without you Mum." She told her, looking up. "This Christmas has been really special, thank you."

"I can't wait for next year's already." Ellie stroked her hair to one side, Clara leant in to the motion slightly, her eyes starting to fall shut.

"Me neither, but sleep first?" She asked. Her Mum chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, sleep first. And then new year, because next year is going to be a great one Clara – I'm going to make sure of it." Ellie finished as Clara drifted off to sleep in her arms. "Sweet dreams darling, I love you."

 _Clara quickly wiped the tear away from her eye as Danny had joined her, realising what she was talking about.  
"If it was happy why are you crying Mummy?" Ellie asked, biting her lip in confusion. Clara swiftly smiled and pulled Ellie closer.  
"Because I miss my Mummy lots, but she made me very happy darling." She explained, kissing her head just as her Mum always had to her. "Just like I will always do for you." _


End file.
